At Starbucks, he'll sketch you, but just wants return to Italy

And when he was done, they went up on the tree. Soon, the tree began to fill up with Bertucci's artwork. The lids drew the attention of Bertucci's eager subjects.

"Hey Bert, do one of me," they'd tell him. Some were persistent. They stopped and asked him every day when their lid would be done.

One by one, Bertucci drew them all and before he knew it, there were more than 100 coffee cup lids crowding the tree.

"I'm no artist," said Bertucci, who has spent most of his life as a drywall installer. "I only started drawing a few years ago."

But, he admits, he's a perfectionist.

"If what I feel inside in my heart doesn't show up on paper, then it's no good."

Bertucci did the sketches because this Christmas, he did not want to receive; he wanted to give, he said.

Bertucci started to notice something else. People who routinely ran out with their beverages stopped – even if it was for just a few seconds.

If Bertucci will take credit for an accomplishment, it is this – he made them stop, look and enjoy a piece of their own lives.

THE CENTER OF HIS UNIVERSE

Bertucci was the youngest of three children. His father died when he was a year old. His grandfather was a farmer and his mother, a homemaker who, according to her youngest child, baked the best bread in the world.

As a young boy, all of Pontecosi was Gisberto's playground. He remembers picking mushrooms from the hilltops and hanging out in the neighborhood church. Bertucci remembers painting the church's tower when he was 16 years old. He stood in a 50-gallon oil barrel, which he then raised and lowered with ropes.

"I carried a paint can and brush going up and down," he recalled, laughing. "And then the wind blew and it got really shaky."

When he was 12, he fell in love with a neighbor girl, a blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty. One day, he saw her on the street and serenaded her. Those were simpler times.

After he finished high school, Bertucci's mother sent him to a technical school where he studied electrical installations.

Related Links

Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci spends every morning in the Starbucks at the corner of PCH and Bayside in Newport Beach. When not sharing his easy, buoyant demeanor, he draws portraits of unsuspecting Starbucks patrons on the lids of coffee cups. He has drawn so many that the store Christmas tree was decorated with them. Finally a patron took a large collection of his drawings and framed them in a shadow box that is now a fixture at the store. Bert, who is remission from oral cancer, is hoping to someday return to his beloved Lucca, Tuscany, where he hopes to spend his last years. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci sips on his morning beverage, as he does every morning, at the Starbucks at the corner of PCH and Bayside in Newport Beach. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Elaine Whitney of Newport Beach greets Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci as he sits in his usual corner at Starbucks at the corner of PCH and Bayside in Newport Beach. He is known for his coffee cup portraits of patrons. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci refines a drawing on a coffee cup lid of a Starbucks patron. He says he does not have a formal art education, although he did a bit of technical drawing in his younger years. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Jen Rivera serves up Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci his regular morning drink at the Starbucks at the corner of PCH and Bayside in Newport Beach. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci sits at his regular corner as patrons check out a shadow box containing a large selection of his coffee lid portraits. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci, left, prepares his morning beverage with other patrons. A shadow box with a large selection of his coffee lid portraits sits in the background. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A Newport Beach police officer walks in front of a shadow box showcasing a selection of Bert's coffee lid portraits. He observes patrons from the side and creates straight-on portraits of them. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci carries an album with photos of his childhood home in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. Bertucci, who is remission from oral cancer, is hoping to someday return to his beloved Lucca, which he left at age 21 and where he hopes to spend his last years. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Some of the coffee lid portraits of patrons created by Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci, of Cost Mesa. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci sits at his regular corner at Starbucks at the corner of PCH and Bayside in Newport Beach. A shadow box containing a large selection of his coffee lid portraits sits behind him by the door. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci spends about three hours at Starbucks, then hops on a bus and spends the rest of the day at the boardwalk in Laguna Beach's Main Beach. He has been a regular for 25 years at the boardwalk, where he plays chess. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Bert Bertucci shakes with chess opponent Steve Blackwell of Aliso Viejo at the boardwalk in Laguna Beach's Main Beach. He has been a regular for 25 years at the boardwalk, where he plays chess. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci packs up his umbrella after a day at the boardwalk in Laguna Beach. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci greets many friends during his daily outings to a Starbucks in Newport Beach and the boardwalk in Laguna Beach. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci waves to a friend as he goes to catch the bus home after a day at the boardwalk in Newport Beach. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
This shadow box containing a large selection of Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci's coffee lid portraits was created by a Starbucks patron. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Some of the coffee lid portraits of patrons created by Gisberto "Bert" Bertucci, of Cost Mesa. ANA VENEGAS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.